New York man, Cheng Le, sentenced to 16 years for trying to acquire ricin for ‘simple and easy death pills’

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Assistant Attorney General for National Security announced last week the sentencing of a New York man for attempting to acquire ricin as a weapon, among other charges.

22-year-old Cheng Le was sentenced Tuesday to 16 years in prison for attempting to acquire ricin, postal fraud, and identity theft in relation to a terrorism offense. Le was convicted on August 27, 2015, following a four-day jury trial before U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan, who imposed the sentence. Judge Nathan described LE’s conduct as “a horrible, serious, and quite terrifying offense.”

Le’s conviction marked the first time in the District that a defendant had been convicted at trial of attempting to possess a biological toxin for use as a weapon or of aggravated identity theft during and in relation to a terrorism offense.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Through the Dark Web, Cheng Le attempted to acquire a lethal toxin. In Le’s own words, established at trial, he was looking for ‘simple and easy death pills’ and ways to commit ‘100% risk-free’ murder. Thanks to the FBI, the NYPD, and the Postal Inspection Service, Le’s deadly plot was thwarted and he has been incapacitated by a lengthy term in federal prison.”

Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin said: “Cheng Le attempted to acquire ricin for use as a lethal weapon, and used a stolen identity to do so. Le sought a ‘risk-free’ way to murder an individual, but thanks to the efforts of law enforcement, his lethal plans were thwarted and the deadly toxin was kept out of his hands.”

According to the allegations contained in documents previously filed in federal court and the evidence presented at trial:

Ricin is a highly potent and fatal toxin with no known antidote. The “Dark Web” is a colloquial name for a number of extensive, sophisticated, and widely used online criminal marketplaces, which allow participants to buy and sell illegal items, including ricin.

In early December 2014, Le contacted a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) online covert employee (the “OCE”) on a particular Dark Web marketplace using an encrypted messaging service. The OCE had taken over the Dark Web identity from another individual who had a reputation for selling lethal poisons. After making contact with the OCE, LE inquired, “this might sound blunt but do you sell ricin?”

Following that initial contact, Le exchanged a series of messages with the OCE concerning his efforts to purchase ricin. During these messages, Le confirmed his understanding of the lethal nature of ricin, revealed his intent to resell the ricin to at least one secondary buyer, proposed that the OCE conceal the ricin in a single pill in an otherwise ordinary bottle of pills, and indicated a desire to obtain more ricin in the future. LE’s messages to the OCE included the following:

“If [the ricin’s] good quality, I’ve already had buyers lining up.”

“Does ricin have antidote? Last I check there isn’t one, isn’t it?”

“Injection can be difficult to pull off. Ricin doesn’t work immediately. You wouldn’t expect the target to not fight back after being jabbed.”

“The client would like to know . . . if it is wise to use ricin on someone who is hospitalized. . . . Injection will leave needle holes on the body which could be found in regular forensic examination. But hospitalized people already have needles in them so it wouldn’t be suspicious. Thing is, would ricin make the death look like someone succumbed to the injuries after an accident and didn’t make it through? In that case then, a little anethestical [sic] gas in the target’s car, get him drowsy when driving, get into an accident, and then kill him in the hospital bed.”

“I probably told you this before, about mixing one and only one toxic pill into a bottle of normal pills. They all look identical. And as the target takes the medicine every day, sooner or later he’d ingest that poisonous pill and die. Even if there is a murder investigation, they won’t find any more toxin. 100% Risk Free.”

“If you can make them into simple and easy death pills, they’d become bestsellers.”

“I’ll be trying out new methods in the future. After all, it is death itself we’re selling here, and the more risk-free, the more efficient we can make it, the better.”

“Also, besides that one bottle of pills with one poisonous pill in there, can you send some extra loose powder/liquid ricin? I’d like to test something.”

Moreover, during these exchanges, Le further revealed to the OCE that he had a specific victim in mind: “someone middle-aged. Weight around 200 lbs.”

On December 18, 2014, Le directed the OCE to send a quantity of ricin addressed to the name of an individual whose stolen identity LE had assumed at a particular postal box in Manhattan (the “Postal Box”). On December 22, 2014, the FBI prepared a mock shipment of ricin (the “Sham Shipment”) that was consistent with Le’s request to the OCE. The Sham Shipment included a fake “ricin” tablet concealed in a pill bottle (the “Pill Bottle”), and a quantity of loose fake “ricin” powder. The next day, the Sham Shipment was delivered to the Postal Box. Le, wearing latex gloves, retrieved the Sham Shipment, opened it, and took the contents to his apartment.

When FBI agents entered Le’s apartment to arrest Le and to search the apartment, pursuant to a search warrant, they saw the Pill Bottle open in his apartment. The agents also recovered from Le’s apartment an envelope containing castor seeds, from which ricin can be produced. The agents further observed that Le’s computer was open to the online account that he had used to communicate with the OCE and to Le’s personal email account.

Le was arrested in New York, New York, on December 23, 2014.

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